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White Peach Tartelettes With Rosemary Sugar & Some Book Tour Updates

June 14, 2011

Up until an hour ago, I was having one of those posts starting with a sentence I'd write and erase, and re-write. Not anymore. Obviously. Here are three sentences I have not started over. Yet. So much I have to say and about the same I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

First, it may sound like a broken record, but if I don't say this a gazillion times, I won't say it enough: for all your emails, tweets, facebook notes and messages telling me how much you are learning from the book... Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To hear you say that you are inspired by its content, its approach, its voice, leaves me humbled and honored. It's been giving me a smile on my face and a skip in my step this past month and a half that the book has been out.

It's always a bit of a struggle talking about Plate To Pixel. I want the book to do well, for all the people who have worked hard on it. I was proud of it when it was just a PDF on my laptop. I am even prouder of it now that I read your messages. I am excited to see it in your homes, to get your "before" and "after" shots. I am even more excited for the space left within for more details, for a sequel.

I am however completely left uneasy when a friend comes to the house with a copy to be signed. When my mother-in-law sends her aqua-aerobics group to buy a dozen copy at the bookstore or when my husband beams with pride when someone says "I heard Helene's book is out" and he picks up a copy from the coffee table.

It's surreal. It's awesome. It's weird. I have no idea whether to smile or run. So I usually sit there and take a deep breath, inhale the moment and silently thank the person across from me for the time they are giving me.

I've been doing this for weeks now. Almost two months actually. It seems like an eternity and it seems like yesterday. I know. It's cliche. Well that's fine. It's corny. That's fine too. That's perfect actually. I can do corny. That I know. I just don't know what authors are supposed to do. I have never done this before. "Breathe" "Take it in", "Enjoy"...Yes. I do that. Then a couple of trusted friends, my editor also, mentioned I should have a book release party, a book signing, a book tour. Ugh. Oh.

I did have a party. For close friends in town, around a good dinner and a few bottles of Champagne. It made more sense to do it that way. They had been there during the writing, the rare moments of frustrations. I wanted to thank John for always making me something tasty to eat when I was too preoccupied to find my way into the kitchen. I wanted to thank Fanny and Patrick for pouring me a glass of wine and mandating I'd take a break. I wanted to thank those friends who made fatigue disappear and mended my soul with their kindness.

I even made tartelettes to celebrate...

And then the book was out, shipped off to you and I went back to work. Shooting, writing, styling, shooting some more. That's my element. Then about 2 weeks ago, I was staring at my Twitter feed when it hit me. Here were three bloggers who were discussing the book and getting excited to learn from it and by including me in their exchange, it really hit me hard on the head. I got quiet again. I wanted to shout "thank you!". I did. But I wanted to shout it again and shake someone's hand and give them a hug too for letting my work be a part of theirs.

The words book tour and book signing were reiterated by dear friends again. So yes. After taking the book on a little christening of sort in Sante Fe late April, I am officially taking the book around the US, little by little, one workshop at a time. I am writing it out loud so I can allow myself to say "I wrote this book and I think you might find it full of great pieces of information." Yes! Again. I found that I am much more comfortable giving a workshop as I take that baby out into your worlds.

Next month, I have the great honor of returning to Evo 11 in Park City Utah as a speaker on July 7th-9th where I'll do a food photography workshop. And while this is separate from a book tour, the wonderful Rachael and Jyl, the founders of Evo, have suggested bringing a few copies for a giveaway. While I am still working the number with my editor, I wanted to extend a warm Thank You to the Evo 11 team. Woot!

Separately from the conference, when I told my dear friend Maria that I would be in her neck of the woods again, we started talking about doing a book release event of some sort for Plate To Pixel. A few emails later and because it is a technical book, the concept of a Book Workshop Tour came about.

So...The Plate To Pixel Book Workshop Tour(!) will indeed stop in Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 6th! The 4-hour workshop will be held at the Market Street Grill at Cottonwood, from 10am til 2pm. There are 12 spots available. It will be completely hands on and I want everyone to be able to benefit from one another and get as much out of it as possible. So yes, a small group is ideal.

UPDATE: The workshop is full and registration is closed. Looking forward to meeting you if you signed up!If you are interested in attending, shoot me an email at photoworkshopslc @ gmail . com and I will send you a packet with the class description, class fee and how to register and secure your spot. That's not all though! The wonderful Heidi at Foodie Crush who literally put this whole thing together on her own, is sponsoring one person to attend the workshop for free! For a chance to win a spot at the workshop held in Salt Lake City on July 6th and brought to you by Foodie Crush and Market Street Grill, head on over to Heidi's site and follow her instructions.

But this coming weekend, it's Charlotte first! In the next week, I will be putting up a page dedicated entirely to the Plate To Pixel Book Workshop Tour with an ongoing list of the cities I will be traveling to, doing workshops and signing books.

In the meantime, let's have some pies, shall we? Tartelettes. Bien sur. White Peach Tartelettes With Rosemary Sugar. Shared with friends because they taste better this way...

White Peach Tartelettes:

If given a choice, I will rush to grab white peaches without hesitation. They remind me of those we get back home. Some are white inside and some have rosy tones instead. Their peach flavor is bit more subtle than the yellow varieties but just as juicy and delicious.

Prepare the tart dough:Sift together the millet flour, corn flour, potato starch, sweet rice flour and salt in a large bowl.Cut the butter into very small pieces over the dry ingredients and quickly work it in the flours with your fingertips until you get large sandy pieces.Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the egg and water and start working the dough from the outside toward the inside of the bowl, quickly moistening the flours and gathering the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate one to two hours.Butter and four 8 mini tart shells. Remove the dough from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes. Roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper to about 1/4 to 1/8 thick. Cut out circles a little larger than your tart shells and place them inside the tart pans, flush the borders with a sharp knife. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the sugar and peaches. For the sugar, just rub the rosemary into the sugar to release its natural oils. Set aside until ready to bake.To prepare the peaches, peel them, cut them in half, remove the pits and cut into thin slices.

Assemble the tart by placing peach slices in a decorative patterns inside the shells. Sprinkle with as little or as much rosemary sugar as you wish.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the shells start getting golden brown and the peaches release their juices.

Very exciting adventure for you, congratulations! I can tell from your words in the post how happy you are, great job, I think you deserve it with all my heart! I didn't buy your book yet, but I will in the next days :) Those tartelettes look yummylicious!

I am not a photographer, nor one who even dabbles it the art. I have never even considered taking pictures of the food I make. Your recipes and warm, light voice however have encouraged me in the kitchen and convinced me to buy your book. I bought it out of support, as a thank you for the joy your posts bring. Once read, maybe you'll even inspire me to get out my camera and see what happens.

Please come to Atlanta! I can't promise that I won't be completely shy and say something totally cliche like, "I love your book!," but I would really be honored to meet you. I love your photography, styling, and words and get excited and nervous every time I open your book.

congrats helene! i have been following you for years now and i cannot wait to pick up your book (i just moved across the country and it was a major hit to the checkbook ;) you have truly been an inspiration! your humility is so sweet and real. congrats again!

You're so amazing! Congrats on the workshop tour. Dare I ask you to come to Orlando and do a workshop tour stop? :D I would totally organize it, you just tell me & I'll do it. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for being so kind.

PS I just bought a set of tartelette pans, can't wait to try my hand at making them! :D

I was just at Foodie Crush's site and commented there...if I wasnt going to be in Mexico with Penny de los Santos over the time of Evo11, I would SO BE THERE!

I would be honored to learn from you and I regret, kick myself, and hate that I didnt do your New Mexico workshop last month or two ago. Ugh. Bad planning on my part.

I love that you're taking your book around the country. And that you are so humble, gracious, and touched by the success and accolades people have for you...which just makes people, including me, love you even more :)

I hope you're going to come to CA! Can't wait for the announcements! :)

You deserve it all! the book is great, finally got me excited to move from my point and shoot to my husband camera a Cannon EOS5D and I'm loving it!!!!Thanks a lot, but I still think I'm more gratefull for your macarons recipes!

Yummmmm. What a delicious looking recipe!Thanks for being so vulnerable about the book and its success. I can only imagine what it must be like. And while I don't have your book (yet!!), I know I am going to love it. I would also love to attend one of your workshops if you make it around to Nashville, TN (though hopefully you would wait until late November when I am back in the country :-P)

This recipe is fantastic! It'll be perfect for a dinner party I'm having this weekend. As for Plate To Pixel - firstly - congratulations! Secondly - Thank you! I've read the reviews and seen snipits and finally some of the frustrating mysteries of good food photography have been revealed, I've ordered my copy from Amazon. Hope you visit London to do a workshop!

Congratulations on your book and on your success! You completely deserve it!! The book is absolutely awesome! I have learnt so much already and I have had it for 2 days! Thank you!!Hmmm, a last thought...have you ever thought about teaching online? Silvia

Just got your book a few days ago and am already halfway through. Thanks for all the wonderful advice and inspiration. White peaches will be in season here in NJ in a month or so. Bookmarking this to try then.

I just received your wonderful book today! so happy!thanks a lot for your book

I love cooking with my girls and I hope I can teach them at least what I know from my mom and my granny. I was keeping all my family recipies in a plain notebook as I was too much afraid starting my own culinary blog, but now I will definitely do that with beutiful pictures.

i am loving this book so much - i'm trying to teach myself food photography and this has become invaluable. it's really refreshing to find a book that explains complex (to me!) photography ideas in an easy-to-grasp format, and i know my photos will improve because of it. you deserve the recognition you're getting - this book and you are fantastic!

love the idea of workshops - if you ever come to boston i'd love to attend one and learn as much as possible.

Hi, Helene,I had a gluten-free cookbook published recently (3/1/11), & only recently have I become very interested in food photography. Interested, but scared, too. And then I bought a copy of your book, and I hear your enthusiasm, and I see that this comes directly from your heart, and I can really, really relate. What I do comes directly from my heart. You want to make photography accessible, and I want to make gluten-free cooking and baking accessible. And I can completely relate to how you say you feel when someone tells you kind things about your book. Especially since it comes from the heart. Thank you for your book, because it needed to be written. And thank you for your humility. We need more of that in this world. Just ... thank you.

Hi helene..got ur book a while back just as it was released on UK amazon (pre ordered it!) and guess what, you've inspired me to have a food blog!

http://www.thecookingdoctor.co.uk

I don't know if i would ever reach the stunning pics tat's your standard but your book taught me a lot of good things and how not to break the bank by buying pricey props!i'm based in London- do u come here at all for ur book tour?? Pls do, its ONLY across the atlantic and you'll make ur fans here happy.btw-i've linked yr blog for the macs recipe, hope thats ok? they turned out gorgeous on first time, so tq a bunch!

I bought your book a while ago and am treasuring it slowly. You've changed the way I approach food photography completely! My photos are so much better now! I have it laying on my couch, waiting to be picked up, perused, and then put back down while I go photograph something with your tips!

I live in Charlotte, but I work on the opposite side of town, so I could not make it to Amelie's today. I am somewhat disappointed, but hopefully next time I will be able to attend. Thank you for all your recipes and beautiful photos.

Congrats on the book release! And I'm blown away by your humility and honesty in this post. Thanks for that. Those peach tartlettes look fantastic! I honestly didn't know that there were white peaches... I spent some of my life in Georgia where they're big, juicy and yellow. So this is new territory for me! Where do you think I could find them?~Nancy Lewis~

Beautiful tarts~I can't wait to experiment with the recipe. Your "humbleness" and humility is refreshing and you deserve all of the glory as you are so incredibly talented! Please schedule something in the Charleston, SC area soon....would love to be there!!Lisa

Cooking Contests: the South Carolina peaches are also big and yellow so I was quite surprised to find the delicate white peaches popping around at the farmers market. That's the only place I found them so far. And not every week. They are really not a variety we often get here in the South apparently!

I have been following your blog, for some time now and had placed 'Plate to Pixel' on my bucket wish list on Amazon. A wonderful surprise arrived this week from my neice who obviously had a hint that it was one of my favourite blogs and books, and yes it was exactly your book, a surprise birthday gift for me. With coffee in hand and a roaring Winter fire I sat and read it front to back...it was a pleasure, intriging and exciting to learn and rediscover things about the love and passion of your world and know deep in my heart that it too has been mine! Thank you for a wonderful book and a credit to you and your love of loves!Yvette xhttp://yvettesblogs.com/

I love your post! You really captured the emotion that all this has brought you congratulations!! Come to Portland OR! We have Powells and so many foodies here! There are so many places that would be a great venue for a stop on your tour.ps I love that when I look at your food I forget you do gluten free and then surprise I can make and eat it!

I just discovered your blog and am so glad that I did! Food blogs - especially those with stunning food photography - have become one of my new little happinesses in life. And it never hurts when the author is from France. :)

I am working and dreaming to have a CSA farm and B&B, so it is helpful and exciting for me to come across new recipes and ingredients that I might try - and to get some new and beautiful ideas about how to present food!

Thanks for your fine work. I am all excited to make the s'more's doughnuts this summer!

I'm fully inspired to rush to buy peaches. These look like roses in the tart, and tarts are my favorite food. I have so much rosemary in my garden I don't know what to do with it all. Thanks for the inspiration. And, congratulations on your success.